Russia During Ww1

In the early 1900s, most Russians lost faith in the leadership of Czar Nicholas II and the imperial rule established 300 years ago. Corruption in the government was extensive and the Russian economy was suffering. Czar Nicholas also repeatedly dissolved the Russian Parliament, the Duma, when it opposed his will. Even given these conditions, the true spark of the 1917 Russian Revolution was Russia’s involvement in WW1. Its economy was already suffering immensely and the war costs further disrupted the economy. Russian troops suffered with poor management and loss after loss further destroyed citizen trust in the government. Soon the citizens began to revolt against Czar Nicholas’s leadership.

A pair of revolutions took down the Tsarist autocracy

Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary from 1985 to 1991, had implemented a three-pronged program to reverse the economic stagnation that the Soviet Union had faced from the 1960s to 1980s. Two aspects of his plans were glasnost and perestroika.

Glasnost, meaning “openness” or “transparency” in Russian, was a policy of openness with concern to the Soviet media, which became more pluralist, honest, and critical. In addition, the program ended government practices such as banning books, encouraged the exercise of the freedoms of speech and expression, and allowed competitive multi-candidate elections to occur. Perestroika was meant to change the market so as to allow more privatization of businesses, as well as meant to create a more open and fair political system. As a result of this policy, the Soviet economy became far more decentralized, and limited democracy was introduced to the existing Communist Party structure, which produced many critics within the Communist Party. In the end, many of Gorbachev’s policies initiated sweeping change but also led to the collapse of the Soviet

He was also successful due to the fact that many Russians believed he symbolized the end of the divisive revolution between communists and anticommunists. Putin’s come to power also signified an end to the previously unstable environment exacerbated by Yeltsin, as he frequently changed prime ministers. Putin was seen to bring a generational change: a refreshing, youthful energy, arguably much needed, following Yeltsin’s term. Putin was essentially the Thermidor of the revolution. The word thermidor originated in the French Revolution and means to cool and to